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(Bloomberg) — The lawyer for Mozambican opposition politician Venâncio Mondlane was gunned down early Saturday, drawing outrage from around the world and calls for a transparent investigation. 

Gunmen in Maputo, the capital, stopped the car in which the attorney, Elvino Dias, and another person – identified by the US and others as Podemos party representative Paulo Guambe – were traveling and riddled the vehicle with bullets, killing both, Carta de Moçambique reported. The site didn’t say where it got the information. 

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A policeman who answered an emergency line confirmed the killing, declining to provide his name or further information outside of a press conference that may take place later.

A joint statement from the US, Canada, Norway, Switzerland and the UK condemned “any act of political violence.” 

The European Union’s diplomatic service called for “an immediate, thorough and transparent” probe to bring those responsible to justice. “In a democracy, there is no place for politically motivated killings,” the EU said in a statement.  

The Mozambique Bar Association condemned “the barbaric and cowardly murder” of Dias. 

The killing ratchets up already high tensions in the gas-rich southeast African nation ahead of a national strike that Mondlane called for to take place Monday to protest what he labels fraud in the Oct. 9 election.

The former lawmaker stood as an independent candidate backed by the small Podemos party, and rode a wave of youth support as he sought to end the Mozambique Liberation Front’s 49-year rule.

Various election observers have raised questions about the credibility of the vote count, with those from the EU citing evidence of potential ballot-box stuffing. The electoral authorities said aggrieved parties can seek redress from the courts, where they should present evidence.

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The nation ranks as only “partly free,” according to Freedom House, a US advocacy group. Anastácio Matavel, an independent election observer, was killed just before the 2019 vote and several members of an elite police unit were convicted of his murder the following year, according to the Washington-based group.

Police on Friday warned citizens from participating in illegal demonstrations, and there’s a heavy law enforcement and military presence in Maputo.

In its statement, the EU said that the Dias killing followed “worrying reports” about violent dispersion of supporters in the aftermath of Mozambique’s election. 

“We urge all citizens, political leaders, state institutions, and stakeholders to resolve electoral disputes peacefully and lawfully, rejecting violence and inflammatory rhetoric,” the US and allies said in their statement on X. 

(Updates with US, EU commentary from fourth paragraph.)

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